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13 Different Types of Bondage

Believe it or not, there's more to bondage than furry handcuffs. This guide will introduce you to the different types of bondage—and what makes each one so sexy.

I remember the first time that I saw bondage depicted in mainstream media. It was something really idiotic, a television show skit that involved people wearing fuzzy handcuffs to bed because they were "so kinky" or something stupid like that.

Granted, the skit was supposed to be comedy, but I wasn't impressed. Even back then, I realized that bondage couldn't have just been a stupid pair of handcuffs. Fuzzy handcuffs don't do much of anything aside from look stupid—or at least, that's what I believe to be the case.

As I started to explore the field of sexuality, I quickly realized that bondage isn't just handcuffs. Heck, during my time as a fetish model, I learned that bondage can take more forms than a typical person could ever imagine.

The more that I did bondage, talked to people in the BDSM community about the BDSM lifestyle, and just worked in the fetish world, the more I learned about the many different genres of bondage out there.

Frankly, I'm a believer that there's a form of bondage for everyone—and that if you're not into it, you just aren't looking hard enough. Not sure where to start? Curious about the different faces of BDSM?

It can take some time to learn the ropes of BDSM, but it's absolutely doable. Here are some of the many different types of bondage that you can partake in.

Shibari

Shibari, also known as kinbaku, is one of the oldest and most popular types of bondage today. This form of bondage originated in Japan and is known for using silk ropes, artful tying skills, and layering ropes to turn the bound person into a work of art.

Though there's definitely a physical element to this kind of bondage, what really sets this apart from other types on this list is the element of display. If the idea of being bound up and put on display like a work of art turns you on, shibari is a great choice.

Gagging

Gags are one of the most common bondage-related sex toys on the market and technically, they are their own genre of bondage. The concept behind gagging is to either bind someone in a way that makes it impossible to speak (or breathe, if you're into breathplay) or to force their mouth open.

There are a bunch of different types of gags you can choose from. Bits, for example, are often used as a form of bondage in pony play. Ball gags are meant to muffle screams while also adding elements of breathplay into your scene. Meanwhile, ring gags force a person's mouth open.

Sensory Deprivation

Sensory deprivation is one of the more extreme types of bondage out there, and it's a practice that uses restraints to reduce your ability to hear, feel, or see things around you. The most common example of sensory deprivation gear is the ever-present blindfold.

However, this category of bondage can also involve hoods, leather masks that cover your eyes and ears, or in really extreme cases, sensory deprivation chambers.

Personally, I find sensory deprivation to be a little too scary for me. But, for some people, that unexpected element of surprise and mystery is really irresistible.

Humiliation Bondage

Sometimes, it's not the act of being ball gagged that makes a kink hot. For some people, the elements of BDSM that turn them on are the concepts and situations behind them. Humiliation bondage is one of the types of bondage that tends to cater to the more mental aspects of BDSM.

For example, a form of situational bondage would be tying up someone naked in public, just so people would point and laugh. Or, it may involve using a gag that has a toilet brush on the end and forcing a slave to clean the toilet.

Humiliation bondage is incredibly versatile when it comes to both the tools and situations it can include. As long as there's humiliation involved, it'll fall into this category of bondage.

Facial Bondage

Facial bondage and gagging often go hand in hand, but there's a slight difference between these two types of bondage worth pointing out. Gagging is specifically focused on a person's mouth, while facial bondage tends to focus on the entire face—eyes, cheeks, nose, and everything else.

From what I've personally seen, a lot of facial bondage tends to deal with the claustrophobia-inducing aspect of having your face wrapped up or otherwise surrounded by materials. However, things like nose hooks also fit under this category.

If you see people wearing gas masks, bondage masks, or having Saran wrap with holes cut in it as part of a BDSM scene, then you're witnessing facial bondage in the act.

Predicament Bondage

As someone who has been bound up before, I can tell you that bondage can be pretty uncomfortable at times. That's part of the reason why many people find predicament bondage to be so attractive.

Predicament bondage is bondage that's done to put people in a more uncomfortable situation. This could be anything from being hogtied with a massager across the clitoris, to being forced to ride a horse while tied in an awkward position.

The entire thing that makes predicament bondage a different kind of BDSM is the fact that it's designed to make the submissives squirm uncomfortably.

Torture Bondage

While predicament bondage tends to focus on discomfort and situations that force people to take certain positions, torture bondage is more about just delivering pain without the precariousness of predicament bondage.

With torture bondage, people tend to be left tied up for hours on end as a way to increasingly exacerbate the discomfort they feel. In bondage scenes, this form of bondage is often used to punish a slave and give slaves a masochistic high.

Pain is definitely the name of the game here. So, people who are deep into sadism tend to love putting people into torture bondage positions.

Suspension

Suspension is one of the very few types of bondage that should not be attempted unless you have a specially trained professional helping you out. As the name suggests, suspension involves hanging someone from the ceiling or from other tall heights.

So, how do you get people up in the air, you ask? It varies. Supension can be done through a variety of different methods, including rope, shibari, leather, and even meat hooks that pierce through the shoulders.

That being said, most people who aren't into hardcore BDSM will find suspension to be way too terrifying to ever try. (Can you blame them, though?)

Restrictive Bondage

Restrictive bondage is just what the name suggests: it's using rope, leather, handcuffs, spreader bars, and other goods with the sole goal of being able to restrict a person's movement.

This is the most common kind of BDSM play you'll find in the bondage umbrella, and if you've ever given bondage a try, you've most likely done a little restrictive bondage. If you've ever used even simple handcuffs for beginners in bed (or yes, I supposed even fuzzy ones), you have given restrictive bondage a try.

Everyone seems to like restrictive bondage for different reasons. The feeling of powerlessness and helplessness tends to be a turn-on for many. Others may like the idea of tying up partners due to the control it offers them. Even more just like the sensation of being unable to move.

Hair Bondage

Perhaps one of the more obscure types of bondage out there is hair bondage—and it's one that might make you think twice about wearing a ponytail. The name of this category is very telling about what it entails, too.

Hair bondage is often done to restrict movement, add a certain psychological layer of subservience to a sub, or for that incredibly appealing "pulling" sensation that many people love to feel.

What many people might not realize is that this form of bondage does require special techniques. If you don't tie your hair correctly, it can get pulled out!

Tightlacing

Tightlacing is one of the very few types of bondage that also doubles as a fashion statement. For those not in the know, tightlacing is the practice of wearing a corset that actually binds your waist and shrinks down your waistline.

Traditionally, tightlacing requires training your waist (and ribs) to work in corsets that have whalebone piping to compress your body. These days, though, titanium-boned and steel-boned corsets are way more common.

Unlike other forms of bondage, this very aesthetic-heavy practice isn't always a turn on for the wearer. Sometimes, it's more about the confidence boost of having an hourglass waist that's carefully cultivated than the tight squeeze of the corset.

Chastity Bondage

BDSM, if nothing else, offers a wide range of different elements that can make an act erotic. Many doms and subs find the idea of controlling a person's sexuality to be incredibly erotic for this reason, which is why chastity bondage is popular among certain groups of people.

Chastity bondage is all about forcing people to be unable to have sex, and typically employs the use of chastity devices to make it happen. The chastity belt has a long and interesting history, and has been used for control in various situations for centuries. For people who love the idea of control, this type of bondage offers serious thrills.

Mummification/Vacuum-Sealing

Mummification and vacuum-sealing are two types of bondage that either terrify people, soothe people, or turn them on. That being said, this isn't a type of bondage for people who are claustrophobic.

This type of bondage uses either bondage tape, a leather suit, a latex suit, or a vacuum bed to give people a full body bondage experience. Almost every inch, except for (maybe) your head, will be covered with material during this kind of bondage.

Regardless of the method used, this is considered an extreme form of restriction bondage. Depending on how extreme you are with your bondage practice, you may or may not be able to breathe. So, it's also got an element of breathplay, too.

People who enjoy this might feel soothed by the full-body compression they experience, or the full control it gives them over a partner. Even so, it can be very dangerous if performed poorly. As a result, this is a bondage type that should only be practiced with people who know what they're doing.